Green Day
Formed: 1988 at Pinole Valley High School, Pinole, California. Members: Billie Joe Armstrong - lead Vocalist and Guitarist Mike Dirnt - Bassist and Backing Vocalist Tre Cool - Second Drummer John Kiffmeyer - Former Drummer Quote from Vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong: "You know when people say 'My favorite band is the Who,' and you know they're talking about a classic rock band. Well, I want people to talk about Green Day like that." Trivia Fact: *The first name of Green Day was Sweet Children. *John Kiffmeyer known as Al Sobrante Early Years: Green Day emerged out of the Northern California underground punk scene in the late 80's. Their first album 1,039 / Smoothed Out Slappy Hours was a compilation of three previous released EP's. Shortly after the album was released Tre Cool replaced the band's drummer, John Kiffmeyer, completing the trio that make up the group today. After a second album''Kerplunk'', released in 1992, the band signed to major record label Reprise. Dookie: [http://top40.about.com/od/artistsdk/gr/greendaydookie.htm Dookie] was released on Reprise in the spring of 1994. MTV jumped on the video for the album's first single "Longview" shortly after the album was released. The second single "Basket Case" topped the modern rock singles chart for 5 weeks. The band continued to gain commercial momentum and Dookie eventually reached #2 on the pop albums chart and sold 10 million copies. The single "When I Come Around" crossed over to pop radio making Green Day one of the biggest bands in the world. Insomniac and Decline of Green Day: The followup album, 1995's Insomniac, was edgier and sold only 2 million copies. Green Day canceled a 1996 tour claiming exhaustion. The next album Nimrod pleased critics but sales were disappointing even though the ballad "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" was a left-field hit. After a 3 year hiatus, the album Warning was released. It was the most direct pop album the group had released yet but failed to ignite a great deal of excitement. After the greatest hits collection International Superhits appeared in 2001 it looked like the band's glory days were over. Green Day Become the World's Greatest Rock Band: Green Day seriously considered breaking up, but instead spent a year working out their issues. After studio tapes for a new album were stolen, the band hastily put together a new album inspired at least in part by Queen's expansive "Bohemian Rhapsody." The result was the anti-Bush rock opera [http://top40.about.com/od/greenday/gr/americanidiot.htm American Idiot] released in the fall of 2004. Although the band feared it would be a failure, the album turned out to be a massive success resulting in the trio's first #1 hit album, a Grammy award for rock album of the year, and a #2 pop single "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams." The album ultimately sold over five million copies in the US alone. Green Day went back to the studio with a new producer, Butch Vig of Garbage, to record a follow up to the massive success of American Idiot. More than 4 1/2 years later [http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/greenday21stcentury.htm 21st Century Breakdown] was complete. The first single from the new collection is "Know Your Enemy." Awards Green Day has sold over 65 million records worldwide with 25 million in the US alone.The group has won five Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" Best Rock Album for the second time for 21st Century Breakdown and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording. In 2010, a stage adaptation of American Idiot debuted on Broadway. The musical was nominated for several Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Scenic Design. Category:Bands and Artists